Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Tuesday 07/03 A.M. Quickie:Rocket, Ryan, Rashard, Recruiting, More!

Clemens: Joins the 350-Win Club. Now with eight members, it's more exclusive than the 3,000 (Hit) Club or the 500 (HR) Club -- but less exclusive than the 600 (HR) Club.

The Home Run Derby gets a boost: No, Barry Bonds won't be participating (if only he would!), but defending champ Ryan Howard – the reigning Face of Baseball – will be. (Phillies fans cringe at the thought of him injuring himself.)

Update: I realize I totally forgot MLB Studs/Duds today. I leave it to you, but also leave you with this: Ben Francisco! (Get on that bandwagon already!)

MLB All-Star, Cont'd: I just want to say that I sure am glad that the Commenters are here to deliver phenomenal MLB analysis when I can do no better than my usual shallow contributions. If you haven't looked through the (mostly) All-Star comments from yesterday's a.m. post, I highly recommend it. (Scroll past post to Comments section.)

Hargrove resigns, cont'd: I don't know about you, but I'm happy to embrace the various conspiracy theories floating around as to why Hargrove would quit the Mariners just as he was winning.

What's bigger news: That A-Rod injured his hamstring last night or that his wife wore a tank top with an obscenity on it on Sunday?

NBA Free Agency: I think Rashard Lewis ends up on the Magic – and that makes Orlando a hell of a good young team in the East. Howard and Lewis? Wow.

UPDATE: Rashard Lewis to the Magic is apparently a done-deal, but Orlando is going to give him the MAX?! That's a stretch for a player who won't be the team's No. 1 star.

Oden signs contract with Blazers: Hat-tip to the NBA's rookie-salary scale, which makes signing easy. As does a low-key No. 1 pick.

More NBA: Ray Allen's veteran professionalism will really make the Celtics a more admirable Lottery team in 2008.

Here's to Derek Fisher, who was released by the Jazz and will now be able to spend more time with his sick daughter.

Wimbledon: The only match that might get my attention before the finals is something like Venus-vs-Maria. Ask and ye shall receive...

Summer Fashion: The must-have T-shirts for the summer come from Mothering Hut. (My favorite is "DNP: Coach's Decision.") Check them all out here. (Yes, Mothering Hut was my collaborator on the Florida "&" T-shirts. No Gator fan should be without!)

59 comments:

Rafael...that's probably their plan. Say for instance, the 8th grade kid ends up being in the top 10 of overall college recruits in his year, well, Tim Floyd will be able to say, if you fire me, odds are so-and-so won't stay with his commitment.

Once Maddux reaches the 350 win plateau, nobody else will probably reach it for several years to come. Only 3 players in the live ball era will be a apart of that club too, Clemens, Maddux and Spahn. However in just a few years we will most likely see A-Rod join the 600 club, and in that time frame we will have seen 4 guys (assuming griffey reaches it this year)in just less than a 10 year span reach it. I would venture to say that the 350 club is much more impressive, but maybe doesn't have the ring to it has the 600 HR club. Seems 600 could be the new bench mark, 500 Hrs has lost its appeal. 300 wins Gets you into the hall, not 500 hrs.

500 hrs from players with no inclination of steroids (aka Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, etc) will get in the Hall. Others like Sosa, Mcgwire, etc wont get in right away. 500 Hrs is still a HOF mark if no steroid controversy surrounds you.

I kinda hope that the big names DO skip the home run derby....the game's the thing. (even without the HFA thing)

How about each winning team member gets a million bucks, losing team members gets 20,000 (or whatever the normal appearance money is). But NO team representation rule. Geez, the NL's got 16 teams as it is, the all-star team doesn't even NEED 16 players.

I can see the Celtics in the crappery next spring, too. At least Jim Calhoun won't have to drive far to see Ray Allen play.

Hey Dan, what happens when Florida basketball gets the NCAA death penalty in 15 years? Oh wait, the SEC will have seceded from the NCAA before that. (maybe?)

Hargrove might have just forgotten what it was like to manage a good team, and is overcome with these strange emotions and sensations.

Where did the Howard as the face of baseball come from? Who proclaimed this? So many other people that would fit that bill much better. I think its tough to argue that will all the publicity that Jeter gets and the completely polarizing feelings toward him that its tough to argue that he isn't the face. When you talk about America's team, or the face of a sport you need to think of someone that is known EVERYWHERE and stirs a great deal of emotion out of the populous - both positive and negative. Ryan Howard is just a good baseball player...he hasn't accomplished anything that would lend him to be the 'face' of baseball. I'd like to hear some sort of argument for that claim.

I think a David Ortiz also would fit the bill better for similar reasons.

i'm confused...have you never seen a game in the bleachers at wrigley or is that something that everyone must do? b/c if you haven't seen a game there yet...what has taken you so long? tix aren't hard to come by...just don't wear any opposing team stuff.

I love going to the bleachers in wrigley and openly cheering for the oposing team...cubs fans are usually too busy drinking to follow whats actually going on in the game and dont really care. I wouldn't say that the bleachers are a very intimidating place for non-cubs fans. And cubs bleacher seats are EXTREMELY easy to come by...just wander around the stadium (near outdoor bars preferably) around opening pitch and you can score tickets for like $20.

@ rafael:I would love to see the Derby go back in time... I can't remember if it was in Three-Rivers or Veterans Stadium, but in the early 90's there was a great derby with Jr., Bonds, and Fred McGriff that gets replayed on ESPN every so often. Great stuff.

@ pv845:I agree that Papi doesn't play half the game and therefore can't be a true "face of the game", but he actually is a half-decent first baseman. He might not make people forget about Doug Mientkiewicz or J.T. Snow, but he can play the position at least as well as Pujols, Fielder or Adam Dunn.

What I want to do:#1 Stand on the side of an Alpine Mountain during the Tour de France and drink beer with some Germans, wine with some Italians, Champagne with some French and then scream at the riders as they climb up the hill.#2 See the Jets win the Superbowl.#3 Attend a Yankees World Series game.

However, my #1 greatest sports moment in my life, the only time I was truly choked up and near tears was watching my son with the 2nd heat of the 600m event at the local middle school track meet. He had never been very athletic or coordinated to the extent we did OT and PT with him when he was small. I never made him play sports as to not embarass him but I did make him run every day one summer after 6th grade. I never really thought he would ever play a sport but he did.

I agree about Ortiz and first base. The guy is still a major leaguer, I don't think he got there without being able to scoop a throw to first. He certainly won't win any gold gloves but it's not as if he is going to look like he is playing with his hands tied behind his back.

Is watching a skiing event in the olympics a prime event? Are there places for spectators? I know it isn't masculine but I would assume Figure Skating would be the prime winter Olympic draw, or Hockey, let's say that I would rather see Hockey

Also Ortiz came up through the Twins organization, so he definitely had to play the field in the minors, not to mention he learned how to bunt. Why he doesn't always bunt when the shift is on, I will never know. How could you turn down an automatic hit like that? Plus, if you kept doing it, it'd make teams not do the shift anymore, making it then easier to pull the ball, right?

he's not fast enough to make that bunt work everytime - the pitcher can field to the left and if he cant bunt it hard enough past the pitcher it would be an out anyway...plus its not worth it considering his ability to chage the game with one swing - rather get the automatic run on the HR then depend on his teammates to manufacture the runs

For those looking for things to do: I'ld add seeing a KU basketball game in Allen Field House against a quality opponent. Absolutely amazing atmosphere (in my heavily biased opinion). That and now there's the Hall of Fame (or Legends or whatever its called) filled with history of the program.

Re: Ortiz, I don't for a second buy the "he's paid to hit home runs" theory, as he's paid to win ball games (obviously home runs help). But at least the 2007 version of Ortiz isn't hitting that many, so why not bunt more often? Let's say that he could have a success rate of 65% (35% making outs, since he's actually a pretty good bunter), wouldn't that offset the risks of him not hitting a home run? I should add that I'm suggesting this in situations where there is no one on base.

Also, for skiing. I don't remember that spectators are allowed near the course, but that they are at the bottom of the hill at the finishing area. Not sure how good the view is from there.

Even a half-assed bunt should get past the pitcher, down the line. How about in the all-star game, David?

I also wonder why runners don't try to steal home against a lefty with that big a shift on.

Honestly, though, you play to win the game....and a good bunt can work. (I broke out of a slump specifically with a bunt because the 1st baseman was staring straight at the sun on the throw from the 3rd baseman....you do what you have to do -- right, Herm?)

also....

Interesting concept, rev.... I'm sure Wendy from South Park is used to random guys throwing up at the site of her, and at a football game, she'd fit right in.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.